Rice, Cake, and Heartache
by tooprettytodomath
Summary: Kotetsu invites Karina to help bake a birthday cake for his daughter! What will come of this? How will Karina deal with her crush? Only one way to find out! One-sided KarinaxKotetsu
1. I don't have all day you know!

**Hello there and welcome! :3 I have come with a rather one-sided KarinaxKotetsu Fan-fiction~ Now, I will hide from all the rabid KotetsuxBarnaby fans... nonetheless, I think this pairing is fairly cute. Which is why this little idea dawned on me one day and I thought, **_**"YES! I shall write my first fanfic and not be the lazy person that I usually am!" **_**So yeah, I kind of imagine that Kotetsu doesn't have many female friends which is why this entire event led to having to spend the day with Karina. Enjoy.**

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><p>It was a pleasant early spring morning. The snow had already thawed, the birds were singing and sunshine was shyly peeking from behind the clouds. Karina adored the springtime, especially on this particular day. How she loved walking outside! How she loved the world!<p>

A broad smile played on her lips. Her face took a slightly rosy shade, especially her cheeks and the tip of her nose, no doubt from the slightly chilly winds that were blowing in her direction. Of course, she didn't mind a single bit.

After waking up at about eight that morning, she had gobbled down her breakfast, hugged her parents, and taken a bus to downtown Sternbild. One would clearly be confused and dying to know as to what had gotten into the crazy teenager – waking up early on a Saturday, going outside... eating?

Ah, but the answer was much simpler than they would think.

Dressed in a long sweater and stockings along with a beanie on her head to match, Karina strolled down the city streets fashionably early (mind you, just in case). She excitedly searched for the particular location that she had arranged to visit the night before.

The scenario yesterday that had led her to this place had certainly been an odd one.

She had taken her usual Supplementary Friday class the night before, and had begun to walk home with her friends. The day had been, for lack of better words, complete shit. Homework and tests thrown left and right, along with a party that she realized she couldn't attend to the following week due to the fact that she had an interview on some celebrated talk show - as Blue Rose of course.

She dolefully swung her backpack, feeling a stab of jealousy for her friends. They didn't have to lead a difficult double life, stuck between being two people at once. Although, when Karina really thought about it, she wouldn't being a hero for the world.

She had been nodding off because her chatty friend, pretending to listen, when a sudden phone call had jolted her from her trance. Debussy's _Claire de Lune _resonated in her jacket pocket. She had casually said hello, thinking nothing of it, to find that the reply was coming from a voice that belonged to a male… specifically (and very surprisingly) Kaburagi Kotetsu. She almost blurted out "_W-WILD TIGER?" _at that very moment… but luckily caught herself in time as her friends were eying her rather expectantly.

She had to admit, it was absolutely the most unsuitable time to call... but she couldn't bid him goodbye just yet. After all, Wild Tiger was calling _her_. For some unknown reason to man, but still! Feeling giddy inside, Karina had hurriedly excused herself, telling her friends that they could go on ahead of her and that she had some business to take care of.

They obviously noted the faint blush that colored her cheeks, as one of them giggled before turning away. Boy, would she have some explaining to do do! Finally being a good length away from them, she was able to respond.

"Geez, what is it?"

"Oi, were you with your friends? I'm so sorry Blue Rose!"

"Ah… that's alright. What do you need?"

"Weellllll…" He had started, rather apprehensively.

She swallowed nervously. It felt like an eternity before he answered.

"It's Kaede's 11th birthday in two days, and I have to bake her a cake."

"A _what_?"

"A cake! She said that's_ all_ she wanted from me, no embarrassing toys or clothes, 'just a cake from daddy'!" He said, attempting a feeble imitation of Kaede-chan.

"And…? Why would you need me?" Karina asked incredulously.

"Nathan told me that you knew how to bake cakes. I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time. You see…" He laughed uncomfortably, though it was slightly muffled by the phone. "I want it to be home-made! Though, I don't know how to bake a cake."

He then added a little quieter, "I just don't want to disappoint my daughter, and I don't know many people who can make cakes either. I never thought I'd say this but… I need your help Blue Rose."

Karina was slightly speechless. He needed her.

She'd never seen him talk so seriously in her life.

Almost at once, the teen grinned from ear to ear. She'd never really spent time with Wild Tiger outside of her job.

He was always out with Barnaby or Antonio or even _Nathan_ for goodness sake!

She tried to formulate words, but she found that her mouth wasn't letting out any sound.

"… S-sure."

"R-really?" She could hear him exhale noisily from across the phone. Had he been holding his breath?

"Tomorrow."

"Alright! You're really a life saver, you know that? This old man here owes you big time!"

"Yeah, yeah." Karina held the phone close to her ear and continued talking with Tiger for another good five minutes, before hanging up.

Moments after their little chat, she had found herself hugging her cell phone and then stopped, disgusted with herself. What was wrong with her?

Nonetheless, tomorrow afternoon, Tiger was going to be completely hers and a certain blonde haired glasses-eyed someone was not going to butt in between them.

She almost skipped her way up the driveway to her house.

How a simple phone call could magically lift her spirits was beyond her.

So that left a rather hesitant Karina Lyle at his doorstep, 11 o'clock sharp. She tightly squeezed the already crumpled piece of paper that she had hurriedly scrawled his address on the past evening.

Checking at least a hundred times to make sure that she was actually at the right place, she came to the conclusion that indeed, this was the house.

Wild Tiger's house.

She gingerly rang the doorbell, unable to stop the blush that was spreading across her face.

_Calm down, Karina – for the love of God, you're just baking a stupid cake! _

It wasn't _just_ a cake though. She had been searching for ideas up until midnight, and had somehow managed to abandon her pile of schoolwork in the process, when a thought had hit her like a train on a track.

According to Tiger, Kaede loved strawberries. Karina had recalled the cake she used to eat every time that she visited her Nana. Just thinking about the sweet taste and soft texture of the strawberry dessert made her mouth water. She had snagged her Nana's recipe for strawberry and white chocolate cake from the family recipe book that night. Kaede-chan was certainly going to love it!

"Just a second!" She could hear him yell from the inside, followed by loud footsteps.

He opened the door with a grin, and stepped back.

"Hey, come on in! Let's see… what can I say to my rival…? Don't make yourself at home?" He joked lamely as she stepped inside.

Karina rolled her eyes. That wasn't funny at all.

"Good morning. Nice bed head you got there, Mr. Hero."

"O-oi!" He exclaimed while patting his hair down. "I just woke up five minutes ago, you know!"

She couldn't help but laugh at that.

His usual green shirt was slightly unbuttoned and his black tie was unevenly tied. He must have bolted to get the door without a second thought about it. Yet, even with that chaotic and messy look of his, she couldn't help but find that it suited him almost perfectly. It was kind of… cute.

She flushed, hoping that it had not appeared as if she had been staring.

Finally tearing her eyes off of Wild Tiger, Karina took in her surroundings while pulling her boots off. His house looked kind of… standard. Everything was modern and spacious, yet still somehow cozy-looking. She shook her head and almost laughed out loud. What had she been expecting in the first place?

Once she was finally settled down on the couch in the living room area, Tiger had gone off into the kitchen. The house appeared large with a high ceiling and all. Everything was very open concept.

"What can I get you? Coffee? Juice? Ah, I guess I really have no idea with what teenagers drink anymore in the morning."

She pouted. He made it seem as if she was a different species or something.

"Hmm. Water is fine."

She could hear Tiger making coffee for himself and no doubt pulling ice from the fridge for her. The news was on and the typical announcer blabbed about boring day-to-day issues such as politics and crimes. She twiddled her thumb, anxiously waiting for him to return to the couch.

Everything about her appeared completely at ease, yet her heart was beating a hundred miles per minute. She could barely sit still. Once Tiger had arrived, she pulled out the recipe she had from her bag, eager to explain her idea for Kaede-chan's birthday cake.

He had seemingly dozed off whilst listening to her explanation, only jump up when she loudly placed her glass of water on the table after taking a sip.

"So, that sounds okay, right?"

"Eh? Ah. Yeah, it sounds great." He said with a cheery grin before stifling a yawn.

Karina felt as if she was a teacher talking to some inattentive student, not a man who was well into his thirties.

Really, he was such a child! She heaved a sigh and stood up with her arms crossed.

"I don't have all day you know!"

She stalked off into the kitchen, noticing Tiger scrambling to his feet with a confused expression on his face. Grabbing the elastic that had been secured around her wrist, she tied her hair up and ordered him to fetch her an apron.

"As you command!" He joked, marching off like a soldier.

He had returned with a plain navy one and a pink one that had a gigantic picture of Barnaby Brooks Jr on it. Her mouth had automatically dropped wide open when she saw the Barnaby one.

"...The pink one is Kaede's, I swear!" He explained, waving his hands in the air.

Poor guy! Just like the rest of Sternbild, it seemed that his very own daughter liked his partner and not to mention rival, better than him.

She surveyed the cloth once more, before covering her mouth in attempt to contain her laughter. What an embarrassing thing to own!

"I… call dibs on the blue one then!" She said between giggles.

"O-oi! That is not fair!" He yelled, though it was too late. She had already grabbed the apron and was tying it on. Tiger sighed and muttered, "Here I was hoping that you would wear it."

For a moment she thought that he would actually put on the pink apron.

Instead, he tucked the cloth back into the drawer and merely rolled up his sleeves.

With the recipe placed on the counter, Karina began to open the cupboards to obtain the basic dry ingredients. After opening and closing dozens of cabinets and opening the fridge not once, but twice, she barely managed to find the sugar and flour. Nevertheless, there seemed to be a lifetime supply of one particular thing…

"Why is it that you only have rice in this house?"

Tiger peeked over at her from behind the three mixing bowls that were stacked up in his hands, puzzled.

"I don't _only_ have rice."

"Oh? What else is there then?"

"There's mayo in the fridge!"

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><p><strong>Wah~ Chapter one is complete! Stick around for the next one. I'm going on vacation for a week so I won't be able to write, but once I get back... who knows!<strong>

**Read and Review!**


	2. Who knew you could sing so well?

**Hello again there everybody! Or... y'know, whoever bothers to read this fanfic. 8D I have come with chapitre deux! Thank you for all the positive reviews, my tummy is feeling rather warm and fuzzy inside! Please, come again.**

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><p>Their morning had been completely spent on buying groceries and cake baking supplies. Tiger's kitchen had been utterly bare to the bone - aside from a few things, that is. Karina wondered why she hadn't thought of that in the first place. He had no idea how to bake so he obviously wouldn't be aware of the ingredients needed, right? Ugh, she felt completely brainless for not noticing.<p>

Luckily, they had managed to buy everything needed in an hour. Karina was glad that they had the whole day to bake this cake. Otherwise, they definitely would have been doomed. Albeit, she had to admit that shopping like this with Wild Tiger had been fun.

Fidgeting in the passenger seat of his car, she recalled how he offered to push the shopping cart and didn't protest when she spontaneously picked a few healthy ingredients for him to use for making his dinner along with a cookbook titled _"Delicious Fifteen Minute Recipes"._

Honestly, he only knew how to cook fried rice? A hero of Sternbild and a father at that! She somehow found it embarrassing. Karina smiled to herself and abruptly stopped once she realized what she was doing, especially when he was precisely seated beside her.

Alas, Tiger was too occupied with humming to some song that played on the radio, and paid no mind to her girlish actions. For some odd reason, a blush had creeped up on her cheeks, forcing her to look out the window.

She tried to clear her thoughts. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, her mind was a void-like trance. All she could hear coming from the other side of the car was the soft drone of his voice, followed by a few taps on the steering wheel.

If she could stay like this forever, she wouldn't mind. With him, grocery shopping, baking and doing various normal things that normal people did together – even if they both coincidentally happened to be everything far from normal.

Her eyes flew wide open. Karina found herself suddenly very familiar with the current song that blared through the radio. Her mouth might as well have had a mind of its own. Surprisingly, Tiger happened to be just as engrossed in the song as her.

She used to listen to this song as a child. The lyrics were always so cheesy and simple, yet at that moment they brought shivers up her spine. It was lovely.

"_Oh well in five years time we could be walking round a zoo, with the sun shining down over me and you."_

"_Five years time  
>I might not know you."<em>

_"Five years time  
>We might not speak."<em>

_"Oh  
>In five years time<br>We might not get along."_

_"In five years time  
>You might just prove me wrong."<em>

One part of her did not want the song to end; the other part denied the first.

He'd sing a line or two, then she'd take over again and again and they went like that until they were parked at Tigers house, suddenly breathless and laughing hysterically.

Karina glanced at the older man, his angular jaw-bone, the way his mouth moved, how cheery his eyes looked every day. He was beautiful - in a peculiar, manly kind of way of course.

"I used to sing that song with Kaede all the time. Ahh, it brings back wonderful memories."

Eh? Kaede? She didn't want to be another Kaede to him.

Her face fell for a moment, but then flew back up.

"Who knew you could sing so well?" She teased, banishing the little tug that had just occurred in her heart.

"What?" He sputtered. "Of course I can sing!"

Even if it was all a joke, their voices had sounded quite nice together. Then again, she didn't have much to compare it to; she'd done very few duets in her life.

Tiger grabbed the plastic bags filled with groceries from the trunk, heading towards the direction of the door when a particular lady in the neighboring house turned from the garden she was tending to. She appeared to be a little on the short and stubby side with poofy gray hair.

"Good afternoon, Kotetsu!" She said, with a wave.

"Ah, hello there Mrs. Rodney." He called back cheerfully while digging for the keys in his pocket.

"I feel so old when you call me ! How many times have I told you to call me Sydney?~" She whined, hands on her hips.

"Oops! Heh heh, my bad."

The elderly lady continued to squint happily at Tiger before scrutinizing Karina.

This… Mrs. Rodney clearly wasn't aware that she had a pair of glasses resting on the top over head.

The teen casually smiled at the woman. "Good Afternoon."

"Fufufu, oh my, my. Such a beauty! Is this your girlfriend?"

Karina's expression suddenly took something similar to that of a person who had just seen a ghost.

"Eh? G-g-g-girlfriend?" She stammered.

Kotetsu proceeded with a hearty laugh, obviously unfazed by the elderly lady's bold comment.

"Naw! I've got a ring on my finger, you know!"

The lady's eyes widened before they sparkled knowingly.

"Ooh, I see, I see!~" She singsonged before returning to her garden tending, unmistakably getting the wrong message.

Geez, he was seriously an idiot!

Once she was back inside Tiger's house, Karina couldn't help but press her hand to her forehead.

Regardless, it kind of hurt when Tiger had laughed and casually brushed it off. She crossed her arms and sighed.

What was her stupid teenage heart doing?

The pain in her chest magnified just by thinking about it. That sudden (and perhaps silly) hopefulness she had in the car had shriveled up in mere seconds.

"Oi, Blue Rose, something the matter?" He asked, tilting his head to the side like a confused pet of some kind.

"Eh?"

She realized that she had been standing mutely by the doorway for a good minute. The teen wasn't aware of the expression that she wore on her face, but Tiger seemed some-what concerned, so it was probably something miserable.

"O-of course not." She grunted and went into the kitchen to inspect the bags on the counter.

She began picking at the stuff, looking at what had to go into the fridge and whatnot. When she realized that Tiger wasn't walking up beside her she stopped and turned around. He stood there, hands in his pockets, scuffing the ground with shoes.

"You know, I'm sorry for inviting you like this. You probably have better things to do. If you want, I could-"

Karina couldn't believe her ears. He wanted her to leave? He thought that _she_ wanted to leave?

"No! I want to help make Kaede-chan happy. I-I want to spend time with _you_!"

She gaped, slightly stunned at what she had said. Her fists were balled up and her face had almost positively gone crimson. What a mess she was!

"I mean, uhm… just thinking about letting you bake this yourself frightens me! You'll burn down the house! You'll poison your daughter!" She said, flailing her hands much more than necessary.

Wild Tiger stood there slightly stunned, to say the least. He then proceeded with a sudden chuckle.

"H-hey! What's so funny?"

"Ah, sorry, sorry! I'm just relieved… what you said means a lot to Kaede and me." He said, the habitual grin resting on his face.

Her cheeks warmed up at his comment. She could barely meet his eyes.

He walked up beside her and helped take out the milk carton and strawberries.

A sheer silence filled the kitchen while they wordlessly set up the ingredients.

It was a comfortable silence though.

"You sounded pretty cool when you said that, you know?" He elbowed her comically, and continued to laugh to himself.

"Of course." She said frostily.

When he turned away, still chuckling, Karina couldn't help but flash a smile.

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><p><strong>That is it for now - I know, it's kind of short. At least I am finally back from all this traveling... the Caribbean for a week and then NYC for four days! Wow. Tiring, but fun. Now, I'm ready to begin writing the third chapter... if school allows. Yay!<strong>


	3. Good morning again, Mr Hero

"Like this?"

Tiger was busily sifting in the cake flour, and other dry ingredients into the bowl.

"Yup-_whoa there_!"

She managed to seize the tablespoon in time before he dropped another into the mixture.

"That would be too much! See what the recipe says?" She explained, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at the sheet. "One and _one half_ teaspoons of baking soda. Not three."

"Heh? Oh! I… knew that." Was Wild Tiger's response.

She covered her mouth in attempt to suppress her giggle, and shook her head.

Unbelievable! He was just like a little kid.

Karina had creamed the butter and sugar by the time he was finished.

While they silently worked, she noticed that it didn't feel awkward at all, the hominess of his house and buzz of the TV in the distance was keeping her at an ease. Finally, everything was coming along nicely.

Ah, the dry mixture was complete and now just the eggs were was missing.

Crack, crack, crack, crack; they all plopped in. The deep yellow egg yolk disappeared with every stir.

For some reason, she could feel Tiger's eyes on her and when she looked up, he was staring at her intently with those gleaming golden eyes.

Her knees began to shake.

"S-something the matter?" She croaked. How embarrassing.

"Nope, I was just thinking."

"About what...?"

"I sure hope my daughter grows up to be like you."

"Oh… but baking comes naturally to girls, I guess. And d-don't judge me yet! We're barely half-way."

"I wasn't talking about only that! You seem to be great at a lot of things, Blue Rose. Completely unlike myself when I was your age - but I'm kind of happy too."

She couldn't help but wriggle in her spot at the compliment.

"You wouldn't have met your wife if you weren't a delinquent?" She mumbled boldly.

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, but then raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know that?"

"Nathan told me. It seems that you guys go way back."

"The life of Kotetsu Kaburagi is becoming a well-known story, eh?"

She reddened. "I'm sorry! He just kind of reminisced about stuff one day and I… kind of listened."

"Eh? Why are you sorry? I'm just surprised that you bothered listening to all that."

"Hmf! Well, most of it _was_ boring." A blatant lie, however her pride was much more important than that.

"That's harsh." He sulked, but his eyes glimmered lightheartedly. "I did do some pretty impressive things as a kid."

"Yeah, well. How about you get that impressive one minute of your hundred power going and act as a mixer for me, since you don't seem to own one." She murmured while pouring in the buttermilk and flour.

"Oi, now you're really being cold!"

He just _had_ to remind her of that dreadful catchphrase she was forced to chant on a daily basis.

She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, but that second life of hers felt so far away from her today.

So, the cake was set to bake for a good 40 minutes. The kitchen was a mess and they still had to prep the white chocolate frosting. They both decided to take a moments rest - she was suddenly feeling very sluggish and no doubt, Tiger as well.

It was well past 2, and as tired as she was, she didn't have any desire to go home yet. Karina wiped her forehead and took a deep breath.

She glanced over at Wild Tiger, sensing the sudden quietness, to witness him asleep on the couch. He was in a sitting position with his hands on his stomach, head tipped back and mouth wide open (drooling rather gracelessly, by the way). Karina absent-mindedly tiptoed over to him and found her eyes fixed on his muscular arms, broad torso, and angular face. She instantly blushed once she became aware of what she was doing.

She was tempted to wake him up, but then thought better of it. Something about the way he looked was so endearing. She had always been aloof around people, but just by looking at Tiger's sleeping face, she yearned to give him a tight and warm hug. Her icy heart was melting, and fast.

The teen decided to leave him be - she finished up melting the white chocolate chips with the cream and butter. She carefully whisked the frosting smooth and positioned it in the fridge, taking a taste test before anything, of course!

The sweet aroma of the cake baking was overpowering by now – it smelled delicious and brought back memories of her birthdays as a child.

She managed to finish cleaning and melted an additional amount of chocolate chips. Before she knew it, she was piling strawberries and frosting in-between the two cake layers.

She added the final embellishments, including two strawberries that were dipped in white chocolate and two of which she managed change to light green chocolate with a few drops of food coloring.

She intentionally personalized it to Wild Tiger's tastes.

Once it was complete, Karina stepped back and admired her creation. It was a scrumptious looking doubled layered sponge cake with strawberries and white chocolate frosting in the middle and on top. She held such pride in their (well, mostly her own) creation.

Kaede-chan would definitely love it. Her apron was a mess, and she felt that her hair was too, but it was completely worth it!

She was momentarily about to bring it into the fridge when she hurt some incoherent mumbled coming from the couch.

"Mmf. Huh? Where am I?"

She peeked over at Tiger to see him push off from the sofa, hair a complete mess.

He scratched his head and yawned.

"What time is it even… Blue Rose!"

He gasped when he saw her, seemingly having forgotten about this entire mornings adventure.

She crossed her arms and gave him an outraged pout.

"Good morning again, Mr. Hero."

His eyes widened at the dessert that was situated on the counter in front of her.

"D-don't tell me you finished the cake by yourself? Gosh, I'm so useless." He said glumly. "I also _really _wanted to help..."

"It's alr-"

"But wow, that looks brilliant!" He said, completely up and about in a matter of seconds.

He was suddenly keenly observing it, hands on his chin. After a few moments his golden eyes met her chocolate ones.

"Kaede will definitely love this. Blue Rose, you're a magician, I tell you."

"Um, well, thank you." She continued to fidget under his gaze.

She wasn't sure if it was imaging things or what, but Tigers face seemed to slowly inch downwards to hers.

She felt her heartbeat magnify a good thousand times than what it was moments before. He was coming closer and closer with every second.

Was she ready for this? W-wait what was happening? She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling completely terrified yet completely willing to do this…

Moments later, she felt a press to her cheek.

Her eyes flew open in confusion, to find Tiger standing back to where he was - a white glob of something on his index finger.

"Keh! You had a bit of frosting on your face!"

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><p>Of course he would never- Argh! What was wrong with her? She mentally slapped herself a dozen times.<p>

After that completely casual moment for Tiger (and completely embarrassing moment for Karina), she shriveled up in embarrassment and remained quiet for the next while.

Her heart was torn in a million pieces – and she didn't even know why!

A low grumble of her stomach echoed throughout the room; she momentarily recalled that the last time she ate was somewhere around eight in the morning… while Tiger managed to miraculously live off one cup of coffee the entire day.

She sheepishly looked down at the ground, unable to meet his eyes.

"I'm starved. Dinners on me, little lady!" He had called out, shooing her out of the kitchen.

Karina smiled gratefully and plopped herself onto the couch.

She was completely wiped out. Who knew that these overwhelming _feelings_ could be more tiresome than running around chasing villains, using NEXT powers, and singing in front of thousands of people?

Wait, did that mean she was in love? Oh bother.

She rolled over on her side.

Her head hurt just thinking about it.

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><p>She stirred from her slumber to find a steamy plate of food on the coffee table in front of her. A Wild Tiger was lounging closely beside her, blindly scarfing down his own food.<p>

He was extremely caught up in the baseball game on television, eyes not leaving the screen.

The teen dazedly positioned herself on the couch. At home she was always expected to properly sit at the dinner table with her family.

Nonetheless, eager to eat, she grabbed the plate and sniffed its appetizing content (which was unsurprisingly fried rice).

"Thank you, Kotetsu." She whispered, just to feel the sound of his name on her tongue. It felt safe to call him that by now.

"You're welcome, Karina."

"I had a lot of fun today." She mumbled between chews.

"We should bake more things together, ne?" He was grinning widely.

Her face turned the same shade as the cooked peppers in her rice.

She shrunk into her sweater, uncertain on whether she was dreaming or not.

"Yeah… _together_."

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><p>That's that~! I suppose the ending is okay. :3 I finished it weeks ago, but just kind of left it there for a while... unsatisfied with it. Nonetheless, I hope you like it. 3<p>

Thank you to those who have reviewed and read this fic!


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